


The Girl with the Golden Hair

by Spybaby47



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Post-Curse Storybrooke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-17 22:39:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3546368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spybaby47/pseuds/Spybaby47
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maleficent lost her child thanks to Snow White and Prince Charming. But what happens when Regina stumbles upon the only child left without a family in Storybrooke? Will all be forgiven or is there a more dangerous plot afoot? All magic has a price. Set in season 4B</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Girl with the Golden Hair

Several weeks after Mary Margaret's confession, Regina Mills shuffled through several requests on her desk. With everything that had happened in Storybrooke lately, she had slowly taken back the day to day duties of being mayor of the town. It seemed to be the best solution. As she sifted through public work requests to fix cracked pavement and broken street lamps, she discovered a request from the Storybrooke orphanage. During the curse, the orphanage contained the children who hadn't been put with families. When it broke, almost all of them were reunited with their actual relatives. Except one. A four year-old little girl called Rebecca. Regina pulled the request out of the pile and began to read.

With all of the children reunited with families, the orphanage was ready to close. But before it did so, Rebecca had to be placed somewhere. Several families had taken the girl in already but returned her soon after doing so. She was prone to violent fits of rage full of kicking, screaming, and biting any time anyone tried to interact with her other than providing food or water. And if that wasn't bad enough, Rebecca wasn't even the child's name. She had no idea who she used to be in the Enchanted Forest or any idea of who her family was. Upon reading this, Regina felt her heart contract involuntarily. A little girl with no family, most likely because of her, was a terrible thing to consider. She finished reading and set the paper down. It sounded like the child might need psychiatric care of some kind. But given that Regina wanted her happy ending, perhaps trying to find a place for Rebecca might help the cause.

The child was sitting in a chair coloring in a coloring book when Regina entered the playroom of the orphanage later that morning. She paid no attention to Regina even as she sat adjacent to her in another chair. Regina watched the little girl with interest as she carefully colored in the picture. She had long blonde hair that someone had taken the time to put into pigtails. Perhaps Rebecca wasn't as difficult as previously described for the time it took to do that. The hair style revealed the child's beautiful high cheek bones and delicate little nose. Her lower lip stuck out slightly in concentration as she worked.

"What are you coloring?" Regina inquired. 

"A dragon," Rebecca replied cooly after a moment.

Regina leaned over slightly to see said dragon and her heart skipped a beat. The dragon she colored looked distinctly familiar with its black coloring and curved horns. 

"Do you know who the dragon is?"

Rebecca turned to her and fixed her deep blue eyes on Regina, "My mommy."

The orphanage staff told Regina before she left awhile later in search of Mr. Gold that Rebecca had never been so calm and relaxed with anyone before. Regina wasn't necessarily surprised at this. The kid had magic in her. While she didn't present any outward signs of it, Regina could feel it as they sat together and it was little wonder the child was prone to fits of rage and violence. She had learned in the course of studying magic that children born with magic powers could be dangerous without any way of expending that energy. Only a parent could help alleviate the stress untamed magic caused.

Regina found Gold a little while later sitting on a bench in the park looking contemplative. 

"Gold we need to talk," Regina said abruptly sitting next to him.

"Do we?" He asked turning to her. His usually impeccable suit had several noticeable wrinkles in it indicating he had slept elsewhere than his home.

"Yes. Does Maleficent know that her daughter is in Storybrooke?"

"Not yet. She seems intent on making Snow White and Charming suffer for the loss of her child. So I thought I would give her a little time for that before mentioning that I managed to save the girl," Gold said with a little smile.

Regina was a bit taken back at the admission that he had saved the child. Gold was a complex man but he had made it very clear that his chief motive in life was to look out for number one. After a moment she spoke, "Why go to all that effort? Unless she's yours?"

Gold laughed a little at that, "No dearie she isn't. But saving her was a potential deal I couldn't pass up. Ensuring Maleficent's daughter's safety will garner me much needed loyalty in the days to come. And as I'm sure you've already discovered how magical the child might be. She may not grow any older than she is now but with a little training, she could be quite the force to be reckoned with."

"I have to admit, it is a good plan," Regina said. "There's just one problem. She's the only child left in Storybrooke without a family. I'm guessing that's because dragons don't acclimate well to daily life. And I assume she is under a spell of yours that keeps her from knowing who she is?" 

He gave a brief nod, "Considering that you kept Maleficent chained under the library during the curse, I thought it best she didn't attempt to find her. It would have interfered with everything you had going to have a little girl crying for her mother. But breaking the spell I have over little Rebecca is easy. All Maleficent has to do is wave her little talisman over the child as she sleeps and when she wakes everything will be as it should be.

"Clever," Regina said dryly knowing Maleficent's penchant for sleeping spells. "But why tell me all of this now?"

Gold shrugged, "I'm simply ready to receive my part of the deal from Maleficent. Once she receives her little dragon back, it's my turn."

~*~*~  
Regina didn't tell Maleficent about the only little girl left in the orphanage right away. In fact, she moved the girl into her home for a couple of days first. Having to admit to her friend that the child she thought she lost ended up in an orphanage wasn't necessarily the best way to renew a relationship of any kind especially when she cast the curse responsible for it. On the second night after Henry went up to his room to research the Author, the door bell rang. 

When Regina opened the door, she found Maleficent standing there in a beautifully tailored white trench coat with a violet top, black pants, and black pumps. "Hello Maleficent. You look nice," she said and meant it.  
Maleficent stepped inside, "Thank you Regina. My regular attire can be a bit much for Storybrooke, especially with the amount of walking one does in this town," she said coolly. "Your note mentioned we had something to discuss?"

Regina nodded and showed her into the living room. Only when they had both settled into the plush cream colored chairs across from each other that faced away from the fireplace did she speak. "I came across some new information recently. There is a child here in town that was never reunited with their family."

"Oh? And what does this have to do with me?" She asked tightly.

"I think she's yours, Mal," Regina said honestly. 

"Mine?" She repeated lapsing into momentary silence. Once Maleficent regained her composure she spoke again, "How can you be sure?"

"Well for starters, she looks like you. Her name here has been Rebecca," Regina paused. "And I've been told she'll be four years-old forever,"

At this Maleficent smiled a little, "That's a good age."

"Rebecca also identified your dragon form as her mother."

Maleficent swallowed hard clearly trying to keep some very strong emotions at bay now, "I see. H-How did she survive?"

"You'll have to ask Rumple about that. He didn't let me in on that secret.'

"Of course it was him," Maleficent replied looking at her friend. It was all beginning to fall into place. "This is one of his deals isn't it?"

"It would seem that way, yes."

The two women sat there in the chairs letting a few moments pass between them. Regina knew the reason for the silence. Her friend was debating whether to see the child. If she didn't, technically she wouldn't owe Rumple anything. But as a mother, Regina also knew that being without her own son would be impossible. Everything she had done to change had been in part because of Henry and to stay a part of his life.

"I need to see her," Maleficent said finally.

"She's upstairs," Regina replied and quietly led Maleficent up to the guest room just down the hall from her own room.

Rebecca looked tiny in the queen size bed that was pushed against the wall opposite of the door. The room was dark save for a tiny green turtle nightlight that once belonged to Henry near the bed. It lit upon her little face framed by pale blonde hair. She was asleep, her brow furrowed slightly. Maleficent stood behind Regina in the open doorway watching the child snuggled safely into the crisp white floral bed linens. Eventually she got up enough courage to go to the bed and sit beside her child. She ran a hand lightly over Rebecca's forehead and smiled down at the sleeping girl. Just when Regina was about to repeat the instructions on how to break the spell, she saw the talisman appear in Maleficent's hands. She raised it slowly over the child's head and waved it. A purple light emerged from the bulbous end. It was faint at first but quickly grew stronger until the light was so blinding that Regina couldn't see anything. And then just like that, the room was dark again. 

The little girl in the bed was still fast asleep undisturbed by the brief light show. Only now her tiny fingers were curled around her mothers and reforming the bond that once was lost.


End file.
